


The unexpected guest

by WiseDragonGirl (Verhalengrot)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek - Various Authors, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Aliens, Blood and Injury, Crossover, F/M, Ferengi, Major Character Injury, Outer Space, Romance, Science Fiction, Separations, Telepathy, Time Travel, Tragic Romance, Vulcans, past and future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:18:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10102499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verhalengrot/pseuds/WiseDragonGirl
Summary: What happens when a doctor from the early 21st century is accidentally transported to the USS Enterprise? And will he find his way back to his own time?





	1. An unexpected arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Lwaxana will make her first appearance in chapter 3.
> 
> The original characters (Andy and Elewa and any names they mention from their own past) and the alien species Yrilians and Jadonians belong to me, the other characters, aliens and the Enterprise belong to the creator(s) of Star Trek.

A man in a yellow and black Starfleet uniform with short, curly hair stood behind the console of the transporter in transporter room 3 of the USS Enterprise. Transporter Chief Miles O’Brien entered some data in the computer and checked the results in the display.

Without taking his eyes from the console he tapped the badge on his chest. “Transporter room 3 to bridge,” he said as his fingers tapped a few more buttons.

 _“Bridge here,”_ the voice of commander Riker, the first officer of the starship, sounded through the communication badge.

“Ready when you are, sir. I have a lock, I made the modifications to get through the ion storm.”

_“Good. Beam the rock up our scientists want to investigate further and then transport it to the science lab.”_

“Yes sir.” Chief O’Brien put his fingers on the console and moved them up to activate the transporter beam. The familiar chiming sound filled the room as the energy collected into a beam, but as the silvery light faded it wasn’t a rock standing on the platform. It was a man with blond hair, loosely tied together in a ponytail reaching the bottom of his neck. He wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt with the text ‘A is for awesome’ and he had a backpack on his back. If he had to guess, the man was somewhere in his early forties.

Chief O’Brien stared at him, he had expected a rock to materialize on the platform, not a human being.

“Where am I?” the man asked.

 _“What was that, Chief?”_ Riker asked through the open communication link.

“Sir, you better come down here,” O’Brien said.

 _“Is there a problem?”_ a stern voice asked. The voice belonged to the captain.

“We have a guest, sir.”

_“A guest?”_

“Yes sir. I beamed someone up who wasn’t on the surface, at least not according to my data.”

_“We’re on our way.”_

“Seriously,” the man said. “Where am I?”

O’Brien looked at him. “You’re, uhm, you’re on the starship Enterprise.”

The eyebrows of the man rose. “Starship?” he repeated.

“Well, yes. Who are you? Were you down on the planet?”

“If by planet you mean on Earth, then yes, I was there a moment ago.” He looked at the puzzled look of O’Briens face. “Obviously that wasn’t what you expected to hear. The name is Andy, by the way, to answer your first question.” He walked down the platform.

“Mister, I have to ask you to stay.”

“Why?”

“Well, because-”

Andy gave him a long look and then sighed. “I can’t leave because I’m an unexpected guest and you don’t know if I’m dangerous, right? I mean, by the looks of it you were just as surprised with my arrival as I was.”

“Yes,” O’Brien said, he sounded relieved that Andy didn’t give him any trouble. “Please wait here, the captain will be here shortly.”

With a resigned sigh Andy complied and sat down on the edge of the platform

 

Andy looked around at the room, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. The green walls, the orange panels, which could be the doors, the lights in the walls and on the platform. The desk or whatever it was the man with curly hair stood behind. It was strange. “I told you my name,” he said. “Who are you?”

“O’Brien, I’m Miles O’Brien.”

“And you work here in this… starship.”

“I do, I’m the transporter chief here.”

Whatever a transporter chief did, it had transported him here. He knew for sure this wasn’t the forest he had been in moments ago, the obvious lack of trees was just one of the many signs. He looked back at O’Brien, while he was here he might as well have a bit of a conversation and try to find out what happened. “So your job is to transport people?”

“That’s true.”

Andy nodded to show he understood, but then grinned and put his hands behind him on the platform so he could lean on his arms. “And do you abduct a lot of people?” he asked.

O’Brien smiled a bit. “That’s usually not a part of my daily job. I really have no idea how you got here, but we’ll look into it.”

“And send me back?”

“Hopefully.”

Again Andy nodded as he looked around the room for the second time. “What if I fell in the forest and hit my head and this is just a dream?”

O’Brien shrugged to that. “Maybe the ships counsellor could help you with that question, but I’m pretty sure that this is the real life.”

For the third time Andy nodded and he rested his arms on his knees. It was strange to say the least, but hopefully someone would come to explain what had happened and how he got here. Where-ever here was.

It wasn’t long before two orange panels opened, like he had suspected they were some kind of photo-electric doors, and a group of people entered. A bald man in a red and black uniform, a woman with long, black and curled hair in lovely burgundy-red outfit which didn’t leave any questions about her body shape, another woman with long, red hair who had a blue coat over her blue and black uniform. And someone with ridges on his dark face in a yellow and black uniform. He stared at the last man as he slowly rose to his feet. He barely even noticed how the red-haired woman came towards him with a large and a small device.

“How long were you down there?” she asked.

“What?” Andy asked as he turned to her.

“Below on the planet,” she clarified. “The atmosphere is not healthy for humans, we can survive there for a while, but-”

“I was on Earth, not below on whatever planet you and mr. O’Brien here were referring to.” He looked at the devices. “What are you doing?”

“Scanning you,” she told him, after which she turned to the bald man. “He seems to be healthy, sir. And human.”

“Thank you, doctor,” he bald man replied, but almost at the same time Andy spoke up as well.

“Well of course I’m human,” he said. “I could have told you that. All I want to know is how I got here.”

The woman with the long, black hair leaned towards the bald man. “I can only sense confusion from him, sir. I sense no hostility, ill-intent or deception. He was honest when he said he wasn’t on the planet below, but on Earth.”

“Thank you, counsellor,” the bald man said to her, before he faced Andy directly. “I’m captain Jean-Luc Picard from the federation starship Enterprise. These are doctor Beverly Crusher and counsellor Deanna Troi,” he said as he gestured to the woman with red hair and black hair respectively.

Andy extended his hand at the formal introduction. “Doctor Andreas Bansing,” he said as he shook the captains hand, “but please call me Andy.”

“Dr. Bansing-”

“Andy,” Andy corrected him immediately.

Captain Picard nodded ever so slightly. “Andy. We don’t know what happened yet, but we will investigate the matter. Mr. Worf here,” he gestured to the tall, dark man with ridges, “can escort you to a room.”

Andy looked at mr. Worf again, who looked rather threatening to be an escort. And unlike anything he had ever seen. It was no Halloween, no Carnaval, there was no reason to assume this man was dressed up as…what? A demon? And he was ‘beamed up’, that had aliens written all over it, but yet he was surrounded by humans.

“What?” Worf grumbled as Andy just looked at him.

“Are those facial features for real?” he asked bluntly.

“Yes.” Worf stated curtly. “I’m a Klingon-”

“A Klingon?” Andy interrupted. “What is a Klingon?”

Everyone looked at each other.

“You don’t know what Klingons are?” Deanna asked.

“Sorry, no.” He looked at mr. Worf. “No offense, I’m sure your… kind is… formidable, but I have never heard of Klingons before.”

Captain Picard looked at his counsellor again, who looked back at him.

“I still sense no deception, sir. Either he can mask it really well, or he really doesn’t know what Klingons are.”

“How can humans not know what Klingons are, they have been around since…” He looked at their guest. “Forgive me the strange question, but what is the century you live in?”

“Your strange question is forgiven,” Andy said, even though he frowned. The question was odd. “It’s the beginning of the 21st century.”

“Andy,” captain Picard began slowly. “We’re in the 24th century.” He noticed how Andy’s jaw dropped. “We’ll look into it,” he assured him, “but you might have been transported through space and time by accident.”

Andy just looked at him as if he had a hard time processing what he had just heard. That was the moment Deanna stepped forward and hooked her arm around his.

“Why don’t I show you to your room and we can talk about it,” she suggested

Andy nodded slowly. “Okay,” he muttered. “Do they have drinks in that room?”

“We can replicate something,” she offered.

“Replicate…” Andy repeated the new word. “Why not?” He managed to put a smile on his face. “Okay, show me to my room.”


	2. The meeting

After Andy had spent a while with Deanna and talked about how difficult a sudden transition to an entirely new world could be, the kind of psychiatrist talk he knew all too well from one of his close friends, he was alone in the room.

He gazed out through the window and looked at the stars. The stars, he really was in outer space on a big spaceship. No, starship. And from what he had learned, build by humans who were on a quest to discover the galaxy as they had once discovered different parts of the earth on massive wooden ships centuries ago. Or millennia counting back from their time.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been in the room, sipping from a coffee the replicator had made for him, when he heard a chiming sound. He recalled it was the doorbell, counsellor Troi had demonstrated the sound when she had left. His first reaction was walking to the door to open it, but it didn’t have any handles like the doors back home. Every door here was automatic.

“You can come in,” he stated as he looked who would enter. The orange door opened and revealed a man with black hair and a bear in a similar uniform the captain wore. “Yes?” he asked.

“Doctor Bansing?”

Andy smiled a bit and shook his head. “No need to be overly polite, just call me Andy.”

The man had a friendly smile and nodded. “Andy, I’m William Riker, the first officer on this ship. We’re having a meeting about you and we would like you to join us and answer some questions. We want to figure out what exactly happened that brought you here. If we know that, we might be able to send you back.”

“It’s not like I have a busy agenda at the moment,” Andy replied with an amused sound in his voice and he joined commander Riker. “Who is attending the meeting?”

They stepped out of the room and Riker gestured to the right to indicate that’s where they were going. “Well, captain Picard, doctor Crushes, counsellor Troi and chief O’Brien, who you’ve already met.” Riker walked with big steps through the corridor, but Andy had no problem keeping up with him, his legs were long enough to make equal big steps. “Then there are lieutenant-commander Data and our engineer Geordi LaForge. They looked in the technical aspects with chief O’Brien and our doctor and counsellor looked into the human aspect, if I can call it that.”

“I see,” Andy replied. “And now you have some questions for me.”

“Indeed.”

They continued with some small talk, Andy decided not to ask about the questions, because Riker probably wouldn’t go into that anyway.

When they reached the conference room Andy looked at the gathered people. The only ones he didn’t recognize were a man of African descent with some kind of device over his eyes and a man with a white skin, both wearing yellow and black uniforms. After Riker introduced them he nodded to them and he picked an empty chair. Leaning back casually he looked at everyone at the table again. “So, what can I help you with?” he asked.

The captain looked him straight in the eyes. “First we would like to confirm you are who you say you are.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“Mister Data and doctor Crusher will ask you questions, if you would be so kind to answer them.”

“Of course!” Andy said as he turned the chair so he could face the doctor. “I will accept any opportunity I get to show off my knowledge.” He smiled at her. “You will deal with medical questions to see if I have enough knowledge to call myself a doctor. And you,” he turned to Data, “you will…”

“I will ask you to name any important details from your life and cross-refence them to any information I could find about you.”

“I would be impressed if anything I ever did survived into the 24th century, but okay.” He spread his arms. “Ask away.”

What followed was half an hour of sharing facts and answering questions. One of the questions of dr. Crusher lead to a debate between the two doctors which demonstrated the different insights of the time they lived in. At the end of it Andy leaned back in his chair. “Am I who I say I am?” he asked.

Data looked at him. “What you told us does match what I read about you.”

“So either I memorized the facts well or I really am the most awesome doctor of the 21st century?”

Data looked ahead for a moment. “I cannot find a record with that statement in it.”

“Ah! That hurts my ego,” Andy sighed melodramatically. “That means I have to make sure people will notice how awesome I am.”

“I would advise against it. Altering the time-line-”

“Oh relax,” Andy said with a reassuring motion of his hand. “I’m not serious. I know I’m not the most awesome doctor of the 21st century.” He paused and grinned. “I’m the most awesome doctor of all time! And I have proof, one of my patients told me that. And children don’t lie.”

“Actually,” Data began.

“Oh hush,” Andy said. “I’m joking! In case you hadn’t noticed.” Exaggerating his own awesomeness, as he referred to it himself, was something he did often and it made people either smile or sigh. And both reactions was exactly what he aimed for when doing that, but it seemed completely lost on Data.

Riker turned to Andy with an amused smile. “Mr. Data is an android,” he explained, “he doesn’t fully understand humor and sarcasm and things like that.”

Andy nodded to show he understood and looked at Data with renewed interest. Instead of a very pale humanoid, this was android. The movement were so fluent, he would have never guessed. He turned his attention to the captain when he began to speak to him.

 “I must warn you about altering the time-line,” captain Picard began, but he too didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence.

“I know,” Andy sighed. “I promise I won’t look anything up about my own future and I won’t try to avoid any major life-changing events. Okay?”

That was all the captain wanted to hear and the meeting went on with theories on how to send Andy back to his own time. Further questions lead them to believe the rock they had wanted to beam up had something to do with it, because Andy told them he had been standing on a stone matching their description.

After a while of talking about different theories and all the risks involved they decided for a test. Chief O’Brien would lock on to the rock again and beam Andy down to it, in the hopes he would beam back to the other rock in his time.

The attempt failed and Andy appeared on the rock on the planet below. This was one of the outcomes they had theorized, so Andy stepped away from it and moments later they beamed him back on board. Data was quick to theorize the ion storm had something to do with it, but the next one wouldn’t be for another month.

The Enterprise had another task waiting for them and Andy stayed on board the starship to wait for the next ion storm for the next attempt to beam him back home. The task at hand was one of collecting a few ambassadors along the way and bring them to a conference. It was something they couldn’t delay any longer if they wanted to reach the conference in time.


	3. The ambassador

Andy walked aimlessly through the corridors of the Enterprise. While doctor Crusher was kind enough to let him hang out in the sickbay, he just didn’t have much to do. He read a lot, Deanna had been very helpful in bringing him books he knew from his own time on e-readers. Or padds as they called it, but in the end it was just a sophisticated e-reader or tablet. This was the third day here and while he had managed to fill the previous days with reading, looking at the stars, talking with the doctor and counsellor and even accepting a dinner invitation from the captain, he just didn’t know what to do with his time.

He stopped when he heard two familiar voices somewhere behind him and turned around to see captain Picard and commander Riker come from another corridor.

“Ah, Andy, where are you going?” Riker asked amiable.

“For the next few weeks, no-where in particular,” Andy sighed.

There was a bit of compassion in Riker’s eyes. “If you’re bored, maybe you should go to ten-forward, our bar,” he suggested. “It’s a great place to spend some time.”

A bar, that sounded like a great idea.

“You’ll like our bartender,” Picard chipped in. “She knows quite a bit about the 21st century. You’ll have something to talk about with her.”

“I might just do that,” Andy agreed. “Do you have time to join me? I try to go to bars in good company.”

Riker showed a friendly smile. “I’m honoured by the invitation, but we’re on our way to pick up the first ambassador in transporter room three.”

“Ah,” Andy said, followed by a nod. “Can I tag along? I don’t have anything better to do.”

Riker looked at Picard to see how he felt about it, who approved with a nod. “By all means,” he then said. “The next ambassador is a… charming woman who has visited the ship before.”

“Too often,” Picard muttered.

They entered the transporter room and captain Picard looked at chief O’Brien.

“Mrs. Troi is ready to be beamed on board, sir,” the transporter chief told him.

“Very well, mr. O’Brien,” Picard said. “Energize.”

The characteristic humming of the transporter beam filled the room and soon two people materialized on the platform. A woman with curled orange hair, she wore dress with green and purple patterns and gold thread around the opening for her neck and the open area on her chest that showed just enough to get a man’s attention. A purple gem stone closed the fabric around her neck and a green gemstone adorned the dress between her breasts. The person behind her was a tall humanoid with a blue-ish face. At this point Andy wasn’t too surprised at seeing aliens again, but the woman certainly caught his attention.

_She’s pretty_ , he thought to himself. _Nice dress._ He definitely liked what he saw, what it revealed and didn’t reveal.

A smile appeared on the woman’s face. “What? This old dress?” she asked as she looked directly at Andy. “It’s just something I had lying around. But thanks for the compliment.”

“How did you…” Andy began.

“Mrs. Troi is Betazoïd,” Riker quickly explained. “She has telepathic abilities.”

“Ah.” That certainly explained it.

“Well, that’s no way to introduce me,” she stated as she stepped down from the platform. “Especially to such a handsome man.” With a smile she examined him a final time. “I am Lwaxana Troi,” she introduced herself. “Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed.”

“Now I’m impressed,” Andy stated, even if he had no idea what all that meant, but it sounded important nonetheless. “I’m just a simple doctor.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

‘Well, I mean, I am the best doctor who ever lived,” he stated with a grin, “but that doesn’t compare to anything you said.”

Lwaxana let out a short, but pleasant laugh. “Now you’re just flirting with me.”

“Is it working?”

She walked up to Andy and hooked her arm in his. “How about you show me to my room and we’ll discuss that with a drink,” she said with a wink

“That sounds like a plan,” Andy replied cheerfully as he started walking towards the door with her, “but I’ll have to ask the computer for directions. I still get lost trying to find my own quarters.”

“Oh, I still can’t find my way around here too. It’s such a big ship.”

As they approached the doors they slid open and Andy glanced back. “And your companion-” he began, but he was cut short by Lwaxana.

“Mr. Homn is my servant,” she tapped his arm. “So don’t worry about him.” After a look at him she showed a smile. “Now those thoughts are just naughty.”

“Well, I can’t exactly say them out loud with everyone here,” Andy stated with a grin, to which Lwaxana laughed, and together they stepped outside into the corridor.

Mr. Homn lifted Lwaxana’s suitcase, nodded to the captain and followed them outside.

The doors closed again and Riker and Picard looked at each other.

“What just happened here?” Picard muttered.

“I think,” Riker began as a smile began to form, “we won’t have much trouble with mrs. Troi this journey.” With an obvious amused look on his face Riker too left the transporter room with Picard next to him.

Chief O’Brien chuckled a bit to himself as the doors closed.  
  


* * *

 Guinan stood behind the bar, the dark-skinned bartender had a purple dress on with a large, round hat in a matching colour. She poured a drink for Deanna who sat at the bar with Beverly, who had a cup of tea. As the doors of her bar opened she looked at who entered and her eyes rested on Andy and Lwaxana as they walked to a table, Lwaxana’s holding on to Andy’s arm and laughing at a remark she couldn’t hear from behind the bar. It surprised her to see him here, but she hid it well. Seeing him brought back a memory from a long time ago.

  
_She lay on a stretcher, the pain in her side was unbelievable. She heard the medics mention numbers, probably her vital signs, as she looked at the lights of the ceiling. Suddenly a new face appeared above her. A man with blond hair and a ponytail that reached to just the bottom of his neck_

_“I’m Andy, I’m a doctor here. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to leave the hospital soon again.”_

_“Not the way I came in I hope,” she muttered._

_A smile appeared on Andy’s face. “We’ll do our best to let you walk out of here yourself,” he promised with a wink._

_Then everything went black._

_***_

_She sat on a bed, she grimaced when she made a wrong move with her body. The painkillers couldn’t take away all the pain from the stitched-up wound. The door opened and she looked up to see the doctor who had joined them as she had been rushed into the hospital the previous day._

_“I came to check up on the stitches,” he said to her. “If everything looks okay I will discharge you today. How does that sound?”_

_“I would be grateful for that,” she replied politely and she let the doctor do his work._

_“Everything looks good here, I did a great job back there.”_

_“I’m not in a position to argue with that,” she replied._

_“It’s a shame you couldn’t witness my awesomeness,” Andy replied cheerfully and he looked at her. The smile on his face was a kind one, not at all what she had expected after hearing what he said. It lacked the pride she had assumed would be there based on the words._

_“I’m glad I was in capable hands then,” she stated with a small smile of her own._

_Andy didn’t reply to that, he only showed that kind smile and he nodded. “Everything looks good. The nurse will give you instructions about the stitches and I will sign the papers that will allow you to go home. If I may give a friendly doctor’s advice before you go.”_

_“Yes?”_

_“Try to avoid getting pointy objects in your side. That hurts.”_

_She laughed softly. “Thank you, doctor, I will keep it in mind.”_  


Guinan smiled at the memory. “It looks like we have new quests on the ship,” she said to the two female officers without revealing her thoughts about it.

They both looked back and Deanna looked surprised to see her mother hooking up with their guest from the past. “That man came from the past,” she explained, “they believe something went wrong with transporting an unusual rock and we picked him up accidentally from his timeline.”

“And what did this man do in the past?” Guinan asked.

“He’s a doctor,” Beverly replied. “We have a theory to send him back, but we have to wait for the right conditions.”

“I see,” she said as she looked at the doctor. “And did he say anything about where he works, the name of the hospital, the department?”

“Yes, he works at the paediatrics department.”

“Not the emergency care department?”

Deanna joined in the conversation. “He mentioned he did work there for a while, due to personal reasons, but that he’s back at taking care of children again.” She looked at Beverly. “Is there any information about the reason?”

“I did manage to find some publications from him,” she said as she picked up her cup. “He’s only known for his work as a paediatrician, but there was a side-note about having experience from the emergency department somewhere. Nowhere did it say why.”

Guinan listened to them as she poured two red drinks in a glass and put them on a tray. “Well, I’m going to say hello,” she told them and she walked away.

* * *

 Lwaxana sat down on a chair and looked at Andy. “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“I thought you were a mind-reader?” Andy retorted with a grin.

“I am, but I like to hear you talk about yourself.”

“I understand,” Andy agreed, “I have a very pleasant voice to listen to.” He smiled when he heard Lwaxana laugh and leaned back in the chair a bit. “Where to start. Well, I’m a doctor, a paediatrician, for starters. A good one. And single,” he added with a wink.

“Now, that is always pleasant to hear.” She noticed how the bartender of who she had forgotten the name walked up to them, but she did remember it was one of the few species who’s mind she couldn’t read.

Andy noticed how Lwaxana looked at something and he turned in his chair to see a dark-skinned woman with very large hat walk up to them. He looked at her and frowned a bit.

“Mrs. Troi,” Guinan greeted her respectfully, after which she turned to Andy. “I heard you are one of our new passengers.”

“True, I came aboard the ship not too long ago.” He examined her for a moment. “I have the feeling I know you from somewhere.”

“We met, once,” Guinan told him with her mysterious smile as she put the drinks on the table. “I know this drink is one of mrs. Troi’s favourites and I think you’ll like it too.” She noticed the puzzled expression on Andy’s face. “I’m happy to say I followed your instructions,” she told him, still showing him the same smile.

“Instructions?” Andy repeated with an even more puzzled expression.

“To avoid getting pointy objects in my side, because it hurts. I have been pointy-object free ever since. That was some good advice you gave me.”

That was when it dawned on him. “Right, you were a patient in the hospital a while ago. A…” he dug deep in his memory, “a bar fight, you were an innocent bystander and got stabbed with a knife in your side, you lost a lot of blood. One of the many people who got rushed to the hospital that day.”

Guinan nodded to show he was correct and Lwaxana looked at him. “Handsome and a hero,” she said to him. “I’m in luck.”

“I’m not a hero,” Andy disagreed, “I did my job and it turned out alright. I’ve lost people I tried to save too.” He picked up the drink and winked at Lwaxana. “Don’t get me wrong, I was awesome, but not I’m not a hero.”

Lwaxana showed a gentle smile at the last remark.

“I hope you won’t mind,” Andy said to Guinan, “but maybe we can catch up later.” He raised his glass to Lwaxana. “I’m sharing the table with the daughter of the fifth house after all.”

“I won’t get in the way of your moves,” Guinan promised as she walked away, she knew the doctor would return to the bar for a talk, there was no reason to intrude any further at the moment. She didn't need to be a mindreader to see what was going on here.

“Speaking of moves,” Andy said to Lwaxana. “If I come up with one that won’t work, feel free to tell me. It saves me the energy of trying something that is going to fail anyway.”

“Works for me,” Lwaxana said as she lifted her drink. “Oh, that’s not going to work.” She smiled as she heard Andy laugh. “No, that won’t work either. Oh, that might.”

“Okay!” Andy leaned forward. “Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?”

“Many told me that, yes.” She sipped from her drink with her dark eyes focused on Andy, they conveyed the amusement she felt quite well.

“Did anyone ever say how they thought you are a remarkable woman and that they enjoyed spending time with you, because it proved them right?”

She lowered her glass a little. “No, no-one ever used that particular choice of words,” she told him, deciding she wouldn’t mention how she could feel he meant those words, human males rarely wanted to be confronted with their own emotions after all. “But people have told me I have beautiful eyes before,” she teased him when she picked up the thought, to which Andy laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dress Lwaxana is wearing is the same as in the episode The cost of living, if anyone needs an image. I feel I didn't do the dress honour in my description of it.


	4. The next morning

The next morning Deanna went to see her mother. After ringing the bell and receiving a telepathic _“Do come in little one”_ , she entered the room. For a moment she looked at the breakfast table in disbelief, her mother sat there with Andy. While her mother was dressed, Andy wore a morning robe and his hair was uncombed, hanging loose around his head.

“Did you spend the night here?” she asked him.

“I did,” Andy admitted as he reached for his cup of coffee. “Why wouldn’t I? Your mother is lovely woman.”

Deanna looked at her mother. _“Mother”_ , she thought to her

 _“What?”_ Lwaxana replied as she looked at her daughter. _“Oh I really don’t need your permission for this, now do I?”_

 _“He’s not even from this time,”_ she told her mother. _“This will be unnecessary complicated for both you and him.”_

Andy looked between the two silent woman, who’s facial expressions seemed to change during the silence. “Okay,” he said as he got up and quickly put the last piece of bread in his mouth. “I’ll go to the sickbay, dr. Crusher wanted to discuss something with me. Then you two can continue your conversation without me, it seems like the type of conversation a man has no place in.”

“If I offended you,” Deanna began.

“Of course not,” Andy reassured her with a dismissive motion of his hand. “That’s the way you people communicate. I’ve had people return to their native tongue to discuss something private when I was with them. I don’t mind.” He walked around the table and soon disappeared in the bedroom.

Lwaxana picked up her cup from the table. “I know he’s not from this time,” she said. “He told me yesterday.” She gestured to the chair. “Sit down, eat a bit. We got to spend so little time together yesterday.”

Deanna sat down and reached to the fruit bowl so she could take an apple from it. “Did you spend the entire day with him?” she asked.

Lwaxana looked at her daughter and sighed. “We spend most of the day in each other’s company, yes. After the bar we had a little trip to the holodeck, he seems to understand it even better I do. He let the computer conjure up a park from his hometown. And then we went to here and, well,” Lwaxana smiled as she brought the cup to her lips, “he didn’t go back to his place,” she concluded just before taking a sip.

Deanna was about the comment when Andy emerged from the bedroom, wearing the same clothes as the day before. His hair combed and tied in a small ponytale again. “Lwaxana,” he said as he walked up to her and he took her hand. “Maybe we can have a drink later today?” he asked as he kissed her hand.

“How long will you be gone?”

“With my awesome doctor skills I’m sure the questions will be answered in no-time.”

Lwaxana smiled at him. “Well, there is this boring lunch-party for all the ambassadors who came aboard,” she told him, “if you don’t mind to attend a social gathering at my side.”

“My dear Lwaxana, you are the only one who could make such a gathering tolerable. I’ll see you there.” He winked, nodded to Deanna and left the room after picking up his backpack near the door.

Lwaxana watched him leave and then looked at her daughter. “I like him, Deanna,” she admitted. “He’s a fun man who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, you know how rare that is in humans. He’s smart and handsome and he’s not uncomfortable with my telepathy.” She sighed. “It’s a shame he won’t stay.”

Compassion crept in Deanna’s eyes and she reached out to take her mother’s hand, she knew her mother wanted a new partner in her life and she hadn’t been very successful. After falling in love with a man who had reached the end of his life and a failed union with a minister who had appeared to be the perfect match on paper, she wished for her mother to find someone she could be happy with.

“This feels like Timicin all over again,” Lwaxana sighed.

Deanna recalled how heart-broken her mother had been when the Kaelon scientist reached the moment in his life to commit a ritual suicide, a normal part of life for the Kaelons. “If you stop seeing him, saying goodbye might not be as hard,” she opted.

Lwaxana shook her head. “The damage is done, little one, for both of us. We talked about it this morning. We plan to make the most out of the time we have.”

“Doesn’t he have anyone waiting for him?”

“No, he doesn’t have a partner or someone he loves, but he has family, friends and a career he doesn’t want to leave behind.”

 

Andy went to his quarters first to get his backpack with his own medical equipment, being in such a foreign place as this he liked having his own things close to him. There wasn’t much in there and he probably wouldn’t need it anyway, but going to the sickbay felt like going to work and he never went to work without his backpack. With the weathered backpack hanging over one shoulder he left his quarters and went to where he had to be. There were only four places he knew how to find by now: his quarters, sickbay, ten-forward and, most importantly, Lwaxana’s quarters.

When he arrived at the sickbay he didn’t see doctor Crushed, but one of the nurses told him she had been called away on a medical emergency. After thanking the nurse with a charming smile, Andy sat down and waited.

It wasn’t long until a woman working for Starfleet entered the sickbay with her daughter, the uniform she wore told him that much. The nurse was about to say doctor Crusher wasn’t here right now when Andy got up from the chair and walked to them.

“I’m doctor Bansing,” he introduced himself and he turned to the child, if he had to guess she was around eight, “but please, call me Andy.”

“Hello Andy,” the child said as she shyly took her mother’s hand.

“What is your name?”

“Sarah.”

Andy smiled at her. “Well then, Sarah, what brings you here on this fine morning?”

“She was dizzy and almost fainted when she got out of bed,” her mother told him.

Andy looked up at the mother. “Mrs…”

“Reynolds. Lieutenant Clarice Reynolds.”

“Mrs. Reynolds,” Andy said to her. “So dizzy and almost fainted. Is it okay if I ask her myself as well? I like to hear the symptoms from those experiencing them, even when they’re…” He looked at Sarah.

“N-nine,” Sarah stuttered.

“Even when they’re nine,” Andy concluded.

After Clarice made a gesture that said ‘go ahead’, he turned his attention back on the young Sarah. “So tell me, Sarah, what did you feel when you got up this morning?” He listened as the girl explained in her own words the classic symptoms of getting up too quick with a low blood-pressure.

“Okay,” he said after she finished. “I want to measure your blood-pressure. And I will use some really old, but effective, equipment for it.” He went to his backpack to retrieve his stethoscope and the manual blood pressure meter. When he saw Sarah, Clarice and the nurse stare at a device none of them had ever seen he grinned. “It dates back to the 19th century,” he told them, “but they were still being used in the early 21st century, even though by then a digital blood pressure meter was more commonly used. I still prefer the manual one, call me old-fashioned if you will.” He instructed Sarah to sit on one of the examination beds and asked her to roll up her sleeve. He put the cuff around her arm and showed her the bulb. “I will use this to inflate the cuff,” he told her. “That might feel unpleasant, but it will only be for a short while. I will use this stethoscope to listen to your blood flow and that is how I’ll measure your blood pressure.” He winked at her. “You may be the first in decades to experience this again. Ready?” After a nod from Sarah Andy put the earpieces of the stethoscope in his ears, pumped air in the cuff and listened to her blood flow as he released some pressure.

During this procedure doctor Crusher returned and she looked at what happened.

“Low blood pressure,” Andy said as he looked towards doctor Crusher. “That is as far as I got with my diagnosis.” 

“Okay,” doctor Crusher said as she moved closer and took out her medical tricorder, “let’s see if we can find the cause then.”

After Andy removed the cuff he stepped back and let doctor Crusher work with the patient. He would have loved to continue the diagnosis and come up with a treatment plan, but he had no idea how the equipment here worked or what tests he could do. And there would be lots of new diseases, while others didn’t exist anymore, like the common cold. He sighed as he sat down and watched the doctor diagnose the young patient and give a treatment, he had never felt so useless before.


	5. The party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, chapter 5. Finally. Sorry for keeping everyone waiting, I was stuck on this chapter. I knew what I wanted to happen, but not how to get there. I sorted it out though :)
> 
> There are 2 original alien species in this chapter and 2 canon alien species will play a minor role. I also mention three canon events. kudos to the readers who know what episodes they were from.
> 
> I hope the lack of names for the ambassadors at this pre-convention party won't bother anyone.

Doctor Crusher and captain Picard both had their gala-uniforms on and were on their way to Ten Forward.

“… and he used this old sphygmomanometer and stethoscope,” she told him. “I’m not sure why, there wasn’t anything life-threatening going on, so he could have waited until I was back.”

“Maybe he just wanted to make himself useful,” captain Picard said and he saw how the doctor looked at him. “Beverly, do you remember when we had captain Montgomery Scott on the Enterprise?” He waited for her nod. “Technology had advanced 75 years for him and he felt completely out of place. He wanted to make himself useful as an engineer, his passion, but he couldn’t and that was frustrating.”

“I understand why he was frustrated,” she agreed.

Picard gave his doctor a long look. “Do you think you could allow doctor Bansing to treat some of your patients?”

“But his knowledge and techniques date back to the beginning of the 21st century.”

“Maybe so, but he still is a doctor and the human body didn’t change.”

Doctor Crusher was silent for a moment, but she nodded. “That’s true, Jean-Luc.” She thought about it for a moment. “He enjoys working with children and I’m behind with my physical examinations of personnel. There are tests he can do without using our technology.” 

“How did Sarah react to being examined with such an old sphygmomanometer?”

“Oh she loved it,” doctor Crusher replied with a smile. “The pressure on her arm was really weird, but the fact someone could tell her blood pressure just by listening to her arm, that was mind-blowing for her.”

“And the result of his test?” the captain asked. “Was it accurate?”

Doctor Crusher nodded. “It was. The reason people started using digital ones wasn’t because the cuff and stethoscope didn’t work, but they’re easier to use, all you have to do is attach the cuff and read the result on the display.”

Together they entered the bar where several diplomats were gathered. All attending Starfleet officers had their gala-uniforms on.

It wasn’t hard to spot Lwaxana, her laughter was clearly audible over the buzzing of voices and she wore an extravagant green dress. Next to her stood Andy, dressed in clothes of a similar colour. Obviously Lwaxana had arranged for more suitable clothes for the party and doctor Crusher had to admit it suited him.

Lwaxana talked to a dark-green reptile-like creature. It was the Yrilian ambassador, the species was new in the United Federation of Planets. They had sturdy scales all over their body and usually wore long robe-like clothing in earth tones. The ambassador was no exception, wearing a brown robe with golden seams and buttons.

Andy listened to the ambassador talk about his career as surgeon, which included laser-tipped knives to get through the scales when internal surgery was needed and some kind of glue to close up the crevice in the skin after surgery. It was actually interesting to listen to, but judging from the sigh coming from Lwaxana she didn’t feel that way, she did no effort to hide her boredom. The Yrilinan ambassador didn’t seem to notice as he continued to speak passionately about his work.

“Andy is a doctor too,” she suddenly said as she gestured to him.

“Oh?” the ambassador said as he looked at Andy with renewed interest. “What is your area of expertise?”

“20th century medicine from Earth,” Andy replied immediately, it was safe to say there was no-one alive today with more knowledge about that topic than he had.

“Really? But your people are now in their...”

“24th century,” Andy filled in.

“Has much changed in that time?” the ambassador asked curiously.

“Of course, of course. For instance, those hand-held scanners we use now, those didn’t exist. We had stethoscopes to listen inside the body, we used x-rays and sonar to show us what was going on inside the body and massive magnetic resonance body scanners.”

“Things have improved than.”

“Oh yes, certainly. It’s easier to diagnose, treatments have improved.” He smiled and folded his arms. “Still, there is something to be said for the old-fashioned hands-on approach.”

“Those old tools can’t be very effective,” the ambassador stated with a certainty of someone who relied heavily on technology.

Andy shrugged. “You know, you’d be surprised what you can learn with a simple stethoscope.”

The ambassador opened his arms in an inviting gesture. “Very well, what can you learn with your stethoscope about my body?”

That was obviously a challenge and one Andy decided to accept, so he said he would get his stethoscope and return for a demonstration.

 

* * *

 

When Andy returned he put his backpack behind the bar and looked at Guinan, who smiled at him.

“You don’t know his species, do you?” she asked.

“Nope, I have no idea about what I will hear,” Andy replied cheerfully.

“You’ll be surprised,” Guinan promised him, but that was all she said about the matter.

She remained behind the bar and watched Andy walk back to Lwaxana and the Yrilian ambassador, his steps, his posture, it all showed his self-confidence. That was something Guinan liked to see: people being confident in their own skills. 

As Andy joined the ambassadors again, he put the earpieces of the stethoscope in his ears and showed the ambassador the other end. “This piece will go against your skin and I will listen. That is all this thing does. We used this mainly for listening to heart, blood pressure, lungs and gut. So, let’s see what sounds your body produces.”

Those standing around them were silent, they didn’t want to make it more difficult for Andy to hear anything. Even the Vulcan delegation seemed mildly interested.

Andy began by putting the drum in the middle of the chest, the scales may be hard, but they didn’t hinder much in letting the sounds from the body through. Maybe the layer was as thick as normal skin? Andy decided that didn’t really matter. “I think it’s safe to say you have a heart,” he stated, moving up slightly, but it’s located at the right side instead of the left.” He moved the chestpiece down. “I can’t make out any distinct sounds of the lungs, either they are located elsewhere or you have a different respiratory system.”

“It’s different,” the ambassador told him.

“That explains the absence of breathing sounds.” He frowned as he picked up something else, it sounded like the heartbeat had an echo. “That’s unusual,” he muttered as he put the chest piece at different places, higher up he could hear the heart, but lower in the body he definitely heard an echo of sorts. Which got louder as he moved down even further. “Do you have two hearts?” he asked.

“But where could the other heart be?” the ambassador asked, clearly enjoying this.

“Let’s find out,” Andy replied cheerfully, but it didn’t take him long. “Just above the left hip,” he concluded. “And you have a heartrate of about 80 I’d say.”

“It should be lower,” the ambassador said, having a more serious sound in his voice now. “We have a heartrate of 30 beats per minute per heart, they alternate their beats. Overall, it should be 60.”

“Hm, I’ll check again.” Andy looked at his watch as he listened to the first heart for a bit and then the second heart, so he wouldn’t be confused with the echo. “No, I’m at 39 beats per minute for the first and 41 for the second heart. If that’s too high I will refer you to my colleague over here,” he gestured to doctor Crusher, “who is more knowledgeable about other species than I am.”

The ambassador looked from Andy to doctor Crusher, who already had her scanner in her hand. “I think that’s best. It could be the atmosphere.” He nodded to Andy. “Thank you for your demonstration. And letting me know about my heartrate.”

 Just seconds after the ambassador and the doctor left, Lwaxana hooked her arm in Andy’s and walked with him through Ten Forward. “I enjoyed that demonstration.”

“Me too,” Andy said, it had been fun to discover the second heart, but he hoped the raised heartbeat wasn't anything serious. 

“I didn’t like him, I’d thought he’d never stop talking about profession.”

Andy laughed. “He’s just proud and passionate about what he does.”

“You are passionate about your work, but you don’t bore me with that, do you?”

“My dear Lwaxana, I wouldn’t dream of doing anything that would bore you.”

Lwaxana smiled at him and put her head on his shoulder, sighing happily.

They strolled through the bar together, sometimes chatting to an ambassador. Well, Lwaxana chatted and while all ambassadors replied politely, after a while most of them looked around for a safe exit.

Andy watched her laugh at a comment of one of the ambassadors, she was a vibrant woman who pulled a lot of attention towards her. That was one of the things he liked about her, she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and stand in the spotlight.

The one species that tried to talk with Lwaxana and had her turn around and leave were the Ferengi. She explained she couldn’t stand those little trolls, the were swindlers, greedy, and disrespectful to women. And she couldn’t read their minds, so she never trusted them. After that she explained how she and Deanna were once abducted by those filthy creatures, she mentioned the name DaiMon Tog with disgust in her voice, and told Andy everything that had happened that day.

Another species she ignored were the four Vulcans, explaining to Andy they were so boring and distant. So cold. Everything had to be logical and they showed no emotions. Andy had to agree with that, he had talked to them briefly and they were everything Lwaxana had said. He didn’t doubt they were intelligent, but their reaction to a joke was nothing, or a raised eyebrow at best. Boring indeed.

As they went to a table with snacks, with many foreign foods that Andy had never seen nor tasted before, the door opened and two Jadonians walked in. They were a species that wasn’t part of the United Federation of Planets, but they were invited for the convention. Their skin was smooth and black as tar, and they were stalk-eyed, like snails. Against the black skin it was impossible to miss the bright red gills on their neck. They only wore short pants in bright colours: the ambassador wore red shorts, the shorts of the other two were green and yellow.

The two belonged to the party of the Jadonian ambassador, who seemed to be talking to the Ferengi.

Lwaxana looked in their direction. “Excuse me, time for what?” she asked them.

The two looked at her and Lwaxana looked at them, soon she showed surprise and then disdain.

“Jean-Luc!” she called out. “These two-”

At that moment one of the Jadonians lashed out with a dagger, but Andy saw it coming and pulled Lwaxana out of the way just in time. The moment the first lashed out, the other planted a device and activated it, filling the bar with a humming noise.

“What is the meaning of this?” Picard asked with a stern voice, glaring at the two Jadonians.

Their ambassador walked forward, his hands serenely folded over his belly. His eyes wobbled with every step he took. “There are some conditions I want everyone to agree to before we arrive at the convention,” he stated, and he began listing some demands.

As the ambassador talked, Picard tapped his badge and called for security, but there was no reply.

“No, no,” the ambassador said, waving his finger, “this device makes it impossible to communicate or transport away.”

One of the Jadonians put a device on the door as well, explaining it would keep the door locked.

“We will never give in to your demands,” Lwaxana stated firmly, keeping her back straight and her head held up as the Jadonian ambassador walked towards her. “You can’t possibly think you can _order_ the daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed?”

Next to her, Andy stifled a laugh. He couldn’t help it, he was fairly sure this ambassador didn’t care about any of those titles, but he didn’t seem to know how to respond to that.

“Please reconsider,” the Jadonian ambassador suggested, after regaining his composure. “I don’t ask for that much.”

“Oh no, just our assistance in genocide,” Lwaxana replied with disdain. “Fight out your own battles, I will have nothing to do with it. You will release us instantly.”

“I really need everyone to agree not to trade with our neighbouring planet and we need weapons. This is your last change, ambassador Troi. Promise me you will help us.”

Lwaxana gave him a cold look. “No,” she stated firmly. “But, be a doll, don’t think about how we disengage these devices of yours.”

A psychological trick, while the ambassador did try to keep his thoughts elsewhere, the devices surfaced in his mind before he pushed it away again. The brain is capable of coming up with distractions to avoid a certain memory, but at the same time it has to remember what it’s not supposed to think about and that mechanism is what Lwaxana exploited by asked her question. She smiled as she watched the struggle of the ambassador to keep the information from her.

Because she focused her telepathic abilities on the ambassador, she noticed the ill-intend of his henchmen that joined them too late. The Jadonian pulled a bone blade from his short pant and thrust it between her ribs with deadly precision. As he pulled it out, Lwaxana staggered back and fell into the arms of Andy, who gently put her on the ground.

Guinan reached under the counter and pulled out a big gun, her souvenir from Magus III that she had fired once before, when the people in the bar were ready to have a brawl.

“You do know this device doubles as a bomb, right?” the ambassador said. “If I die or my demands aren’t met, we won’t diffuse it. Everyone will die.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Lwaxana groaned.

Andy looked at the ambassador. “Are you willing to die for this?”

“Of course not,” the ambassador said. “Me and my associates will be teleport to safety, my men are listening to this conversation.”

“But, you said…”

“Obviously our signal can go through,” the Jadonian replied. “Do I have everyone’s agreement?”

The female Vulcan ambassador looked at him, showing no emotions whatsoever. “You do not,” she stated. “We do not negotiate with terrorists.”

“Then you all are of no help, we’ll be on our way then, but we’ll leave a communication device so you can contact us when you change your mind. You have an hour, the bomb will go off after that.” The Jadonians gathered and one of them threw a communication device on the ground.

“Wait!” the Ferengi DaiMon shouted. “Of course we are willing to supply weapons. We can get you the best bargains!” He looked nervously at the bomb. “Please take us with you and we can do business.”

“Of course,” the Jadonian ambassador replied and a moment later all the Jadonians and Ferengi were teleported out of the room.

Immediately the Vulcans and captain Picard turned their attention to the communication-disrupting bomb and tried to find a way to disarm it. Lwaxana told them what little she had been able to read in his mind about the device, but it wasn’t enough to instantly disengage it.

One of the other ambassadors took the communicating device from the ground, but discovered it only was a one-way link to the Jadonians.

Andy pressed a piece of cloth against Lwaxana’s side, looking worried at the red colour in the fabric that grew bigger and bigger.

“It’s that deep, huh?” Lwaxana said.

“This won’t miraculously close by itself,” Andy agreed and he looked at the Vulcans. “Can’t you destroy it?”

“That might set off the bomb,” one of the male Vulcans said, “but this is not a sophisticated piece of technology. We can disarm it.”

With that assessment made, one of them checked the device on the door. It seemed to be more sophisticated than the bomb, but he started to try and disable it as the others worked on the other device.

“Just hurry,” Andy said. “She needs medical attention.”

Picard looked at him. “Can’t you do anything, doctor?”

“Well, of course, but I only have some basic supplies with me, I’d prefer to treat her in more suitable place.” He focussed his attention on Lwaxana again, he examined the colour of her skin and then looked at the red-stained cloth. He lifted it briefly to assess how much blood she was losing and quickly pressed it against the wound again.

As the others were busy trying to disarm the bomb, Andy kept a close eye on her health, looking for signs of shock, assessing her paleness and other signs her blood loss was critical. Disengaging the devices took too long, he preferred she’d get treatment in a proper medical facility, but  they couldn’t wait. “I need my supplies!” he said as he looked up.

It was Guinan who brought his backpack. “Can I assist you?” she asked.

“Keep pressure on the wound,” Andy instructed and he pulled his backpack closer to him, quickly unpacking a few sterile packages. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

“Do all doctors travel with stitching supplies?” Guinan asked with an amused tone in her voice.

“Only those that decide to travel through Africa with a doctor-friend, far away from civilisation,” Andy replied. “I was there before I ended up here.”

He rummaged through his backpack and sighed when he remembered it was his friend who had carried the needles and the fluid medication they could need. “I can’t take the pain away,” he said to Lwaxana.

“That’s okay,” she whispered.

Andy put on some sterile gloves and opened the packages with the needle and thread. “And since this isn’t that fancy 24th century equipment it will leave a scar.”

“Then I have something to remember you by,” Lwaxana replied with a weak smile.

That brought a smile to Andy’s face and he gestured to Guinan to pull the cloth away. The smile faded and made room for a serious expression as quickly cut a bigger opening in the dress and started closing the bleeding wound with the needle and thread with fast and precise movements, sometimes asked Guinan to wipe some of the blood away with the cloth. Of course it hurt, he didn’t need to hear the groans of pain to know the puncturing of the needle in the sore skin hurt every single time.

When the stitching was done he pulled a thick, sterile compress from the backpack, opened the package and put it over the wound. With some medical tape he taped it over the wound. That was all he could do for her.

Lwaxana was barely conscious, sweat pearled on her pale skin and her laborious breathing indication how much pain she had and how much strength she had lost.

 

* * *

 

It took half an hour before they managed to disable the bomb and Lwaxana could be transported to the sickbay. Picard crouched down next to her and looked at Andy before ordering three to be transported to the sickbay.

Once they materialized there, doctor Crusher checked her vital signs with her tricorder and administered a hypospray to combat a possible infection. After that she inspected the stitches and looked at Andy.

“You used the… old-fashioned way to close the wound?” she asked.

“It’s the only way I know,” he said with a shrug. “If I had a sedative with me it wouldn’t have been as barbaric as it was.”

“I never said it was,” doctor Crusher replied with a faint smile. “Sure, it hurts, but it gets the job done. You saved her life with it.” She looked at Lwaxana. “I will repair the damaged tissue.”

“Only the internal damage,” Lwaxana muttered. “The cut may heal on its own. It’s been taken care of by an expert after all.”

Andy grinned. “Yes, if I can’t be a doctor anymore, there’s still a future for me in the sewing business.”

Lwaxana laughed weakly, her face distorted from the pain it caused. “You really shouldn’t make me laugh,” she berated him playfully, to which Andy apologized with the kind smiling and the tender look in his eyes he often had for her.


	6. Going home

The Enterprise arrived at the planet where the convention was held and one by one the guests beamed down to the planet. The incident with the Jadonians had been reported and the Jadonian ambassador had decided wisely not to try and fight the Enterprise after they had communicated the events, but return home after his failed attempt.

Andy walked Lwaxana to the transporter room. He nodded to chief O’Brien, one of the few men he had gotten to know better during his stay and who had joined him at the bar a few times.

“Such a sad day,” Lwaxana sighed and she looked at Andy. “But it’s better this way.”

“I’m sure we could live a happy live together,” Andy said with a shrug of his shoulder, “but the cost is too high. Even if we didn't have a timeline-disruption to think about, you don’t want to be separated through space and time from your daughter, your friends, your home planet. And I miss my family, my friends and my work. I’d rather not choose between my love for you and my love for the people back home and I will probably spend the rest of my life wondering if this really is the best decision…”

“But we both know it is,” Lwaxana continued. “It's best if the timeline continues as it should. And remember that no-one will be able to take away what he had and we can savour that. We’ll love again. Isn’t what we have now proof of that? I’ve said goodbye to lovers before, I told you about my old lovers, the ones that died and the ones that just didn't work out. You’ve dealt with a broken heart before as well. That woman that cheated on you and your Jendavi, who died. You never thought you’d ever love someone again like you had loved your Jendavi.”

That name was something Lwaxana had heard in his thoughts and when she had asked who that was he had told her about the woman he had loved, but died after a poisonous snake bit her, when he was in a neighbouring village. And it was true he hadn’t loved another woman since her, until he had met Lwaxana. It wasn't even odd anymore to hear his own thoughts or feelings coming through her mouth. He had found that quite refreshing, dating a telepath, you couldn't be anyone else but yourself and he knew she had appreciated how he had handled her telepathy.

Andy stepped forward, gently held Lwaxana’s arms and kissed her. “We reach the same conclusion every time we have this conversation.” He showed her a smile, even though he knew that she knew the smile was only shown on the outside. “I wish you a happy life, Lwaxana. I enjoyed the time we had together.”

Lwaxana smiled at him and wished him the same. She strode up the platform, followed by her ever silent servant, and smoothed out the skirt of her dress. “Beam me to the surface,” she instructed O’Brien, who nodded and set the coordinates.

As O’Brien readied the transport, Lwaxana looked at Andy again, whose smile had faded and who watched her departure with a serious look in his beautiful eyes. “But I will miss you, imzadi,” she said as the transporter chief initiated the transport.

A sincere smile returned to Andy's face when he heard those words and blew her a kiss as the transporter beam started dematerializing her. He knew the term literally meant ‘the first’, but didn’t necessarily mean ‘the first lover’. It was more about the first partner with  intimacy on both physical and spiritual level, like soulmates. And he felt the same way.

 

***

 

The Enterprise returned to the place where they had picked Andy up. During that time Andy spend his time reading, assisting doctor Crusher when he could, talk and drink tea with captain Picard, drink whisky with chief O’Brien, talk to Guinan about his own time and visit the holodecks when he was invited by counsellor Troi or commander Riker.

The time came that the conditions were perfect and Andy stood on the transporter platform, dressed in the same green T-shirt, with ‘A is for awesome’ printed on it, as he had on when he had arrived here. He looked at the gathered people: captain Picard, commander Riker, doctor Crusher, counsellor Troi. Data and Guinan. Of course chief O’Brien was behind the controls.

“So I should end up on the same stone in Africa that I was on when you transported me away?” Andy asked.

“That is the theory,” Data said. “It is not a certainty.”

“But,” Picard interjected, “if you end up on the surface of the planet we will beam you back up.”

“And if I end up elsewhere…” Andy began, but he stopped, he didn’t want to say nor think that was a possibility.

“Would you rather not go through with it?” Data inquired.

“I’d rather go home,” Andy sighed. “Let’s do this.”

“Okay,” O’Brien said. “I entered the coordinates.

“Thanks for your hospitality,” Andy said. “I enjoyed my time here.”

Picard nodded to that. “It was nice having you, doctor Bansing.”

Andy closed his eyes and muttered some words in a language no-one could understand. After that Andy took in a deep breath, looked at O’Brien and nodded to him. “Send me home, chief.”

O’Brien energized the transporter and a chiming sound filled the room as the energy collected into a beam. When the light faded the platform was empty. A quick check later learned them there was no human life on the planet below.

“I hope he’s back in his own time,” Riker sighed.

“He promised to let us know,” doctor Crusher reminded him.

Data nodded to that. “Indeed. He promised a publication about the history and the future of the stethoscope. If we find one written by him, he is back where he belongs.”

“I wonder what he muttered,” Deanna asked out loud. “I never heard that language before.”

Guinan smiled when the question was asked. “An old African spiritual language. He was there on vacation, right? He asked the spirit of Africa to guide him home. I know he is home, you will find the publication.”

Picard looked at Guinan and nodded. At this point he didn’t even need Data’s confirmation anymore, he trusted the instincts of his friend. He did ask her how she knew that language, to which Guinan replied she had travelled on the earth a lot, and she had visited both the wealthy cities of Africa and the small, tribal communities. There she had learned the language Andy knew as well.

It was one of the things they had talked about during their conversations.

When Data searched the publications of doctor A. Bansing, he did find the promised title, just like Guinan had said. It was the confirmation that he had gone back where he belonged.

 

Andy found himself on the rock in the area he had been in before he got transported away. He sighed in relief.

_“My friend!”_

The voice of someone speaking in the local African dialect surprised him and he quickly turned around. “Elewa?” He jumped down the rock so he could greet his African friend, the witchdoctor of the tribe living in the area. _“I’m glad to see you. But tell me, the friend I came here with, where is he?”_

_“Your friend came to our village when you disappeared from the stone. We promised we would await your return and he went back home. He said you’d understand.”_

_“Of course.”_

_“We stood guard every day and night prayed to the spirit if Africa to guide you back to us.”_

_“So did I.”_

Elewa put his hand on Andy’s arm and guided him towards the village. _“We were worried, I’m glad you’re back. Where were you?”_

 _“Far away,”_ Andy sighed. _“I crossed space and time.”_

The witchdoctor nodded slowly. _“We will tell our children not to play on the rock anymore.”_

_“The chance of this happening again is very slim. Almost none-existent.”_

_“But it can happen again.”_

_“It could,”_ Andy agreed. _“Making the rock off-limits is probably the best idea. Better safe than sorry.”_

They walked to the village, where Andy was greeted by the villagers who were all happy to see him again. The village where Jendavi used to live, the village where he had learned the old language, felt like a second home. Just like a life with Lwaxana it could never replace his real family, he would really miss them if he couldn’t see them again. And he had a fulfilling career, which was hard to leave behind as well. He stayed at the village for the night and took a plane home the next day, although he promised to visit them again during his annual vacation.

The first thing Andy did when he was back in the city where he lived was visiting his friend, he told him everything that had happened, a story he only shared with him, his brother and his nephew. At work he just said he had gotten lost on his travel and apologized for his absence.

Life returned to usual fast, he worked at the hospital, spend time with his family and friends and he started working on a small book about the history and the future of the stethoscope, because he had promised to do so. Of course there was no rush in completing it, they wouldn’t read it for another three centuries, if the book would even survive. Which meant he had to make it available as an e-book as well and do such a good job that people would recommend this for any ‘history of medicine’ class being taught anywhere on the planet.  

He dedicated the book to his lover from another time with the simple words ‘for Lwaxana’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you enjoyed this story.


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